Reeling apparatus



y 1941 E. J MCILVRIED my 2 ,243,480

REELING APPARATUS Filed ocp. 16, 1959 4 Sheets-She'et 1 May-27, 1941,. E. J. MclLVRlED ETAL 2,243,480

REELING APPARATUS I Filed Oct; 16, 1939 4 SheetS-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS REELING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 16, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORSY J. MC/l. alto fowl/1 N May 27, 1941.

E. J. M lLVRlED ETAL 43,48

REELING APPARATUS I Filed Oct. 16, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I, III (3":1! r arr/1111,1 g ga 4511M Patented May 27, 13941 Edwin J. Mclivried, Stow, and Norman H. Nye, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,- assignors to The Vaughn Machinery Company,'Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application October 16, 1939, Serial No. 299,606

11 Claims. 1 0]. 242-25 This invention relates to winding or reeling, and more particularly to improved apparatus for taking up wire or other material, and in which provision is made for varying the winding speed to compensate for the building-up of material on the rotatable winding member or spool.

An object of our invention is to provide improved apparatus of this character which is especially suitable for the winding of fine wire and other more or less delicate material and in which an automatic variation of the winding speed is accomplished smoothly and efficiently and without subjecting the material to undue stress likely to cause breaking thereof.

Another object of our invention is to provide improved winding apparatus having variablespeed driving means adjustable to difierent winding speeds and in which the movement for the adjustment of the variable-speed driving means is supplied by a positively driven means in response to or under the control of a function of the material being wound.

A further object of our invention is to provide improved winding apparatus having positively driven traveling guide means for the material and variable-speed driving means for the winding member adapted to be adjusted to different winding speeds by movement transmitted thereto from the traveling guide means.

Still another object of our invention is to provide improved apparatus for taking up material being delivered from an issuing means and having driving means adapted to be adjusted for varying, the winding speed to compensate for the building-up of wound material, and in which the motion for adjustment of the variable-speed driving means is transmitted thereto from a posi-.

the length of the loop of material extending be- 7 tween the winding means and the issuing means.

Our invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and more particularly set out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings showing one'embodiment of our invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a winding machine constructed according to our invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with portions thereof broken away;

Fig. 3 is a partial end view of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing a portion of the machine on a somewhat larger scale than in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken through the apparatus substantially as indicated by line i 5-5 of Fig. l; I

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken through the apparatus on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a front elevation showing another portion of the apparatus on a larger scale than in Fig. 1.

More detailed reference will now be made to the drawings for the purpose of describing the construction and operation of the embodiment of our invention illustrated therein, but it will be understood, of course, that our invention isnot limited to the particular apparatus illustrated and described, but may be embodied in various other winding apparatus and like machines.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, we show our winding apparatus applied to a wire-drawing machine ID for taking up the strand of wire H which issues from or is delivered by the wiredrawing machine. The wire-drawing machine It may be any one of various forms or types of such machines, and in this instance is shown as having a frame portion l2 mounting a rotatable shaft l3 which drives a final or delivery capstan it from which the strand l I is delivered or withdrawn. The shaft l3 may be driven from some appropriate rotatable part of the machine Ii) through the cooperating spur gears l5 and it.

Our winding apparatus may be provided with suitable frame or housing members I! and 18 which may be connected with each other and the latter of which may be connected with the frame portion 12 of the wire-drawing machine H Aligned shafts I 9 and 20 are rotatably mounted in the housing members ll and i8 and are arranged to receive a spool 2| upon which the material, in this case the strand of wire II, is to be wound. The housing member I! may. be

constructed to provide a partially inclosed wind ing chamber 22 in which the spool 2| is supported by the aligned shafts l9 and 20. The shaft l9 V 25 and 26.

The shaft 20, which may be referred to as the driven shaft orwinding shaft, may be mounted inthe housing member I8 by suitably arranged bearings 27 and 28 and may be driven from any suitable source of power. In this instance the winding shaft 20 is driven from the wire-drawing machine l9 and is connected with the wire-drawing machine through a variable-speed device 28 which is adapted to be adjusted to different positions or settings for varying the speed of the spool to compensate for the building-up of material thereon.

Various forms of variable-speed devices may be used for connecting the winding shaft 20 with the wire-drawing machine It], or other source of power from which it is to be driven, and as an example of such a variable-speed device, I show in this instance an adjustable friction drive comprising cooperating disk and roller members 29 and 39. The disk member 29 may be carried by an extension lid of the shaft |3 which extends into the housing member l8. The roller 30 may be slidab-ly mounted on the winding shaft 20 and may have a driving connection with the latter through the medium of the sliding key 3|. As will be seen from Fig. 4, the winding shaft 20 and the shaft |3 are arranged with their axes lying substantially in the same plane and extending substantially normal to each other so that shifting of. the roller 39 axially of the winding shaft and across the face of the disk member 29 will produce different transmission settings or speed ratios. From Fig. it will be seen that shifting of the roller 33 toward the right along the Winding shaft 23, that is, toward the axes of rotation of the disk member 29 will result in a decrease in the winding speed at which the spool 2| is driven. As will be presently explained, we provide means for automatically. shifting the roller 20 toward the center of the disk member 29 to progressively decrease the winding speed in response to the building up of material on the spool 2| and also provide manual means for restoring the roller to its position of maximum spool speed (that shown in Fig. 5) when an empty spool has been placed in the machine for the beginning of the winding operation.

Shifting of the roller member 30 may be accomplished by a shifter fork or block 33, slidably mounted in a guideway 34 of the housing member i8 and provided with a rack 35 with which a driving pinion 36 meshes. The pinion 36 may be mounted on a shaft 3'! which is journaled' in the housing member i8 and on the outer end of which is pinned a gear 38. The gear 38 meshes with a second gear 39 which is keyed to a shaft 40 and forms a part of a ratchet device 4| which we provide for transmitting the motion for shifting the roller 39 of the transmission device 28 and which will be presently described.

Since the material being wound may be of a more or less delicate nature, such as a fine thread or strand, we do not make use of variations in the tension of the strand for directly shifting the roller member 30 of the variable-speed device 28 but utilize the motion or power of some positively driven mechanism or power device for this purpose and control the application of such power or movement in response to variation in the length of the loop of material extending between the spool 2| and the delivery capstan I4. Winding machines usually embody a traveling guide device for guiding or laying the material as it passes to the spool or arbor and such traveling guide devices are usually positively driven either from a movable part of the winding machine or from some other power source. To avoid subjecting the strand or other material to undue stress, as above explained, we contemplate utilizing the motion of such a positively driven traveling guide device. for shifting or actuating the movable member or control (in this instance the roller member 30) of the variable-speed device to its different settings.

The winding machine illustrated in the drawings includes such a traveling guide device 42, which, in this instance, comprises a laterally shiftable bar 43 having a pair of guide fingers 44 which project into the housing member I! and serve to guide or lay the strand II on the spool 2|. For utilizing the reciprocating motion of the bar 43 of the guide device 42 for shifting the roller member 30 of the variable-speed transmission device 28, we provide the bar with a cam 45 and provide the ratchet mechanism 4| with a lever 46 which cooperates with this cam. The lever 48' may be pivoted to rock on the shaft 49 and may have diverging arms 46a and 46b. The arm 460. may carry a roller 41 which lies against the upper edge of the bar 43 and is adapted to be engaged and lifted by the cam 45. A spring pressed plunger 48 engages the arm 46a and presses the roller 41 against the bar 43. The arm 46b of the lever may have a pawl 49 pivotedthereon for ratcheting cooperation with the teeth of the gear or ratchet member 39.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, the pawl 49 may have an arm portion 4911 which engages the teeth of the gear 39 and an angularly extending arm portion 49b terminating in an upstanding finger or trigger portion 490 adapted to be engaged by a latch lever 59 which is also pivotally mounted on the lever arm 461). A spring pressed plunger 5| carried by the lever 46 engages the arm 4% and tends to rock the pawl on its pivot 49d in a direction to cause the end or reduced. portion of the arm 49a to enter the space between a pair of teeth of the gear 39. The lever armv 43b may also have a pin or shoulder 5| a thereon to take the thrust of the pawl arm 49a when the gear 39 is being driven by the pawl.

The latch lever 50 controls the action of the pawl 49 and, as will be further explained hereinafter, is itself shifted or swung in response to shortening or lengthening of the loop of. material extending between the spool 2| and the delivery capstan l4. This latch lever is pivoted on the lever arms 46b above the pawl 49 and has a projection or shoulder 50a thereon providing a hooklike portion adapted to catch and temporarily retain the trigger portion 49c of the pawl when the latch lever is swung or allowed to swing downward on its pivot. To cause such swinging of the latch lever 50, we may provide an actuating arm or lever 52 which is pivoted on a bracket 52a, or other suitable support, and at its outer end carries the guide sheave 26 over which the strand passes. The other end of the arm 52 may be connected with the latch lever 50 by means of the link 53. A compression spring 54, disposed between a stationary seat 55 provided on the bracket 52a and a movable seat 56 carried by a rod or link 51, acts to lift the arm 52 on its pivot and thereby maintain the strand under a desired, preferably light, degree of tension. The rod 51 is connected with the arm 52 and the seat 56 may be adjustable on this rod so that the compression of the spring 54 can be varied for adjusting the degreeof tension on the strand I In the operation of the apparatus as thus far described, it will be seen that as the rod 43 of the guide device 42 travels back and forth for laying the material on the spool, the cam 45 will engage and lift the roller 41 against the action of the spring pressed plunger %8 thereby causing rocking of the lever 46 on the shaft 49. As the lever 36 is swung toward the right, as seen in Figs. 1 and 7, the arm 49a of the pawl 49 will ride up over the tooth at the immediate right thereof and this will cause rocking of the pawl on its pivot lild in a clockwise direction relative to the arm 56! Such rocking of the pawl will cause its arm sec to sweep under or along the latch lever 50 and the trigger portion 490 of the pawl will thereby cause lifting of the latch lever and will travel past the shoulder 50a thereof. If the latch lever 50 is then free to swing downwardly on its pivot, as might be the case during the beginning of the winding operation or at any time that the strand loop increases in length, the shoulder 53a will drop behind the trigger portion 490 of the pawl and the latch lever will hold the pawl in an elevated position preventing the same from engaging and driving the gear 39 as the lever 48 is being oscillated. On the other hand, if the latch lever 59 has been lifted by the link 53, as will occur when the strand loop is shortened, and the shoulder Sila is not permitted to drop behind the trigger portion 490 of the pawl, it will be seen that the pawl will not be held by the latch lever but will drop behind the tooth 38a and when the lever d6 swings toward the left, the pawl will push the gear 39 through a corresponding angular distance. Whenever the pawl 49 is held by the latch lever 50 and thereby prevented from applying thrust to the gear 39, as above explained, the lever 46 will simply swing idly on the shaft it as the cam 45 engages and disengages the roller 41 and hence no adjusting movement will be transmitted to the roller 39 through the rack and pinion 35 and 35 and the winding speed at which the spool 2i is being driven will remain constant for the time being.

As the winding operation progresses and the material builds up on the spool Z l thereby pro-- gressively increasing the effective winding diameter, the loop of material extending between the spool and the capstan I4 will be shortened and the arm 52 will accordingly be swung downwardly on its pivot causing lifting of the latch lever 50 by the link 53. While the latch lever 50 is thus held elevated, the pawl 49 will have ratcheting cooperation with the teeth of the gear 39 and will cause counterclockwise movement of this gear, as seen in Fig. l, as the result of the rocking of the lever 46. Such counterclockwise rotation of the gear 39 will drive the gear 38 and pinion 35 in a direction to cause the block 33 to shift the roller member 36 toward the center or axis of the disk member 29 of the variable-speed device 28 and this will cause a corresponding decrease in the speed of rotation of the spool 21.

With the spool speed thus decreased, the loop of material between the spool and capstan i l may increase and permit the arm 52 to be lifted by the spring 54. This upward movement of the arm 52 will cause the latch lever 50 to be lowered sufficiently to again exercise latching cooperation with the pawl s9 and will prevent the same from engaging between the teeth of the gear 39 so that the lever 35 may rock idly on the shaft Ml until a subsequent shcrtening of the loop of material again causes the latch lever 59 to release the pawl and thus re-establish a driving connection between the lever 65 and the gear 33.

It will be understood, of course, that the-pawl 4.! will be of a suitable shape to accomplish the function above'explained and that the stop lug machine or other device for taking up wire or I or pin am will be suitably located on the lever 46 at a point to take the thrust of the pawl during counterclockwise rocking movement of the lever. Backward or counterclockwise movement of the gear 39 may be prevented as by means of a holding pawl 60 which is held engaged with the teeth of this gear by the spring pressed plunger 6 i.

If desired, the bracket 52a which supports the actuating arm 52 may be provided with a stop 62 which is adapted to be engaged by the arm 52 for limiting the extent of downward movement of the latter. As shown in Fig. 1, the link 53 which extends between the latch lever 58 and the actuating arm 52 may be connectedwith the latter by a connection which is yieldable, upon compression of the spring 5311, to permit the latch lever 58 to be lifted by the pawl 43, but which will cause positive lifting of the latch lever upon downward swinging of the actuating arm 52.

The reciprocating bar 13 of the traveling guide device 42 is positively driven, as above explained, and in this instance, is driven from the winding shaft 20 through suitable intermediate mechanism. This mechanism may include a pinion 65 mounted on the winding shaft 20 and meshing with a gear 66 which is carried by a worm shaft Bl. The worm 86a of the shaft 57 meshes with a worm gear 68 which drives the shaft 68a carrying a heart-shaped cam 69. A slide 10 mounted in a guideway H of the housing member l8 carries a cam follower or pin 12 which cooperates with the cam to cause reciprocation of the slide as the cam is rotated. The reciprocating motion of the slide '10 may be transmitted to the reciprocating bar 43 through a lever 13 which rocks on a pivot or fulcrum M. A retracting spring '55 may be connected with the bar 43, or embodied in the actuating mechanism therefor, and serves to shift the bar towards the right as seen in Fig. 1 and to take up lost motion between the cooperating movable parts of the mechanism which drives the traveling guide device.

As already explained, the maximum winding speed is obtained when the roller member 39 is in the relative position shown in Fig. 5 and that the maximum winding speed is desirable when a new or empty spool is placed in the machine. To facilitate the resetting of the roller member 3i? to the position shown in Fig. 5 for starting the winding operation on a new or empty spool, we extend the shaft 40 and provide a knob or handle 49a thereon. Since the shaft 49 is keyed to the gear 39 and has no direct driving connection with the lever 66, it will be seen that the shaft can be r'otated manually to drive the gears 39 and 3B in a direction to cause the roller member 39 to be shifted back to the position shown in Fig. 5'.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, it will now be readily seen that we have provided improved winding apparatus which can be readily applied to a wire-drawing other material issuing or being withdrawn therefrom. It will be seen furthermore that we have I provided novel means for automatically varying the winding speed in response to the building-up of wound material and that in accomplishing such adjustment of the winding speed actuating movement is taken from an available power source or positively driven device rather than directly from the strand or material and hence the danger of breakage of the strand is substantially, eliminated. It will be seen furthermore that in transmitting motion from the positively driven device to the speed varying means, we utilize the variation in the length of loop of material extending between the winding and issuing means for controlling such transmission of movement. Moreover, it will be seen that when a ratchet mechanism, such as we have disclosed, is utilized for controlling such transmission of motion, very little work or effort need be exerted by the loop of material and hence breakage thereof is not likely to occur. It will also be seen that in the winding apparatus which we have provided, a smooth and progressive variation of the winding speed will be produced automatically as the wound material builds up and that when an empty spool is substituted and maximum winding speed is again desired, a manual adjustment of the variable-speed driving means can be readily made.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In apparatus for winding material, a rotatable winding member for taking up the material, a drive for said member including means adapted to be shifted for varying the speed of said member, a reciprocable guide for guiding the material to diiferent portions of said winding member, a positive drive for said guide, means connecting the guide driving means with said speed varying means for utilizing movement of the reciprocable guide for shifting the speed varying means, and means engaging the material and adapted to be moved thereby for controlling the effectiveness of such movement utilizing means.

2. In winding apparatus, a rotatable member for taking up material from an issuing means, variable-speed means for driving said rotatable member, means for changing the setting of said variable-speed means to vary the winding speed, a positively driven means, a ratchet device adapted to be actuated by said positively driven means for transmitting motion to said speed setting means, and means engaging the material and adapted to be moved thereby for rendering said ratchet device effective or ineffective.

3. In winding apparatus, a rotatable member for taking up material from an issuing means, variable-speed means for driving said rotatable member, means for changing the setting of said variable-speed means, a traveling guide for guiding the material passing to said rotatable member, driving means for said guide, a ratchet device connecting the guide driving means with the speed setting means for transmitting motion to the latter, and means engaging the material and adapted to be moved thereby for rendering the ratchet device effective or inefiective.

4. A speed control mechanism for a variable speed winding device having driving means which is adjustable to diiferent speed settings, comprising a member positively actuated during the winding operation, means providing a releasable connection between said positively actuated member and the speed setting means for transmitting motion to the latter for adjustment thereof, and means engageable with the material being wound and adapted to be actuated thereby for releasing and reestablishing said connection.

5. In winding apparatus, a rotatable winding member, a traveling guide device for guiding material to said Winding member, driving means for said winding member and guide device including a speed control member adapted to be shifted in a direction to decrease the speed of said winding member and said guide device as the wound material builds up on said rotatable member, a ratchet mechanism connecting said guide device with said speed control member to cause such shifting of the latter including a pawl which is movable from an eifective position, to an ineffective position, and means engaging the material" and adapted to be'actuated thereby to control such movement of the pawl.

6. In apparatus for taking up material from an issuing means, a rotatable winding member spaced from said issuing means, driving means for said winding member including a speed control member shiftable to decrease the winding speed as the wound material builds up on said rotatable member, a traveling guide for the material, a ratchet wheel connected with said speed control member to cause such shifting thereof, a lever cooperating with said traveling guide and adapted to be oscillated thereby, a pawl on said lever for driving cooperation with the ratchet wheel, and means engaging the material and adapted. to be shifted upon decrease in the length of loop between the issuing means and winding member for controlling the driving cooperation of the pawl with said ratchet wheel.

7. In apparatus for taking up material from an issuing means, a rotatable Winding member spaced from said issuing means, driving means for said winding member including a speed control member shiftable to decrease the winding speed as the wound material builds up on said rotatable member, a traveling guide for the material, a ratchet wheel connected with said speed control member, a lever cooperating with said traveling guide and adapted to be oscillated thereby, a pawl on said lever for driving cooperation with the ratchet wheel, an arm engaging the material and adapted to be moved thereby in one direction upon shortening of the loop between the issuing means and winding member, means tending to move said arm in the opposite direction, and means responsive to such movements of said arm for controlling the driving cooperation of the pawl with said ratchet wheel.

8. In winding apparatus, a rotatable winding memberfor taking up material from an issuing means, means for driving said winding member including variable speed means having a member movable to settings corresponding with different winding speeds, a positively driven guide device for guiding the material passing to said rotatable winding member, means for utilizing movement of said positively driven device for shifting said movable member in one direction, and manually operable means for shifting said movable member in the opposite direction.

9. In winding apparatus, a rotatable winding member for taking up material from an issuing means, means for driving said winding member including variable speed means having a member movable to settings corresponding with different winding speeds, a positively driven device, ratchet mechanism adapted to transmit movement from said positively driven device to said movable member for shifting the latter in one direction, means responsive to variation in the length of the loop of material between said winding member and said issuing means for controlling the operation of said ratchet mechanism, and man ually operable means for shifting said movable member in the opposite direction.

10. In winding apparatus, a rotatable winding member, a drive therefor including a transmission means adjustable to vary the speed of rotation of said winding member, a positively driven reranged to be operated by said positively driven reciprocating means and to cause a progressive adjustment of said transmission means, said ratchet mechanism including a member engaging the material being wound and adapted to be moved thereby for varying the effectiveness of such ratchet mechanism.

11. In apparatus for taking up material from an issuing means, a rotatable winding member, a drive therefor including means shiftable to vary the speed of rotation of said winding member, a 10 reciprocating positively driven guide means for guiding the material passing to said rotatable member, and ratchet mechanism arranged to be operated by said reciprocating guide means and to cause a step-by-step actuation of said shiftalole means, said ratchet mechanism including a member engaging the material being wound and adapted to be moved thereby for varying the effectiveness of such ratchet mechanism.

EDWIN J. MCILVRIED. NORMAN H. NYE. 

